reflective thoughts
~by Ken Diez de Leon
I’ve never been to Ferguson Missouri and the truth is I’ll probably never go, but I do know what it’s like to be followed around a record store at nine years old.
No I’ve never been shot at by a police officer on patrol, but I do know what it’s like to have to bite my lip because a Prince William’s finest has his hand on his right hip hurrying us out of the Golden Arches after the Friday Night Lights.
No I’ve never lived in Selma, Alabama and no I don’t plan to go, but I do know what it’s like to be stopped and frisked at age 16 on a summer night waiting for a ride on Delaney Road.
I’ve also seen the war on drugs up close, not from too far away,
When the one behind the wheel with skin like the clouds,
Never had to explain anything to the cops except maybe why his bass was up so loud,
But the grass in the dash went unnoticed I suppose,
His future never endangered, his second senior semester never threatened to be put on hold nor the wait for his record to be expunged and thankfully never exposed…
But that’s “what you get” is what they’ll say,
Again and again until blue in the face.
(But that blue unlike the black, will shortly fade away)